


The Dancer-Writer Ranch

by SaraJaye



Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Future Fic, Horses, House building, Implied Relationships, Kristy and the Missing Fortune callback, Pizza, Realizing dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 12:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9440885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: In which Mallory makes good on a promise from childhood.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hopeonfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeonfire/gifts).



It wasn't a ranch built with a mysterious fortune that landed in their laps. It had taken Mallory years just to save up for the property, and a few more to get the renovations done and the property expanded. Which was better than building from scratch, but still a ton of work.

Of course her family thought she was crazy, but in a worried way rather than a mean one.

"We hope you're not biting off more than you can chew," Mom had said. "A horse ranch with a dance studio and a writing room is a huge project." And at times she wondered if Mom had a point. Even working with an existing house didn't make things much easier when everything had to be mucked out and replaced; the last people who had lived there hadn't kept it clean, and when they moved they hadn't bothered to make it presentable for anyone who might want to live there.

(At least it was a ranch house, so there was only one level of rooms to deal with.)

The construction team was enthusiastic, but it contained a few kids she'd sat for and it was hard not to go into babysitter mode. Especially towards Moira Phillips, who'd grown up bossier than Kristy Thomas could ever be, and Andrew Brewer, freshly twenty-one and a skilled carpenter but still a bit too sensitive for his own good.

(Not helping the Andrew matter was Karen, who stopped by a few times a week to give the evil eye to anyone she thought might hurt his feelings.)

Still, watching her dream house take shape and grow over time was fascinating, rewarding. Like watching her brothers and sisters grow up, or how Claudia felt when her art gallery started to take off. Every day it looked less like a mess no one had lived in forever and more like a home.

When the designated bedroom was finished, the first thing she did was call Jessi. They ordered from Pizza Express and sat on futons, leaving the curtains slightly open to watch the sunset.

"I can't wait until this place is _really_ a ranch," Jessi said. "Then we can go to the horse farm and adopt our foals!" She tapped her chin. "I still wonder if I should pick a filly or a colt, though. I guess it depends on what you get, Mal." Mallory set her second slice of pizza down and blinked.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"In case we want to breed them," Jessi said. Actually, Mallory had considered that a few times, but horses were expensive to take care of and took up a lot of space.

"Well, we have some time to think about it," she said. "And either way, they'll be in separate stalls. Not like hamsters where baby explosions happen every few months!" Jessi giggled.

"Like the Mancussis' hamsters!" She sipped her soda. "I can't believe we'll finally have our own horses! Plus, there's my dance studio, and your writing room...so much to look forward to."

"I know." Mallory sighed, hugging herself a little. "I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas."

"Remember when we were eleven, and we couldn't wait to grow up so we could wear anything we wanted and stay out late?" Jessi sighed. "Now here we are, twenty-eight, and you've worked your butt off to make a childhood dream a reality."

"I guess that's part of _really_ growing up. Not relying on some big fortune to buy this place," Mallory said, leaning back against her pillow. "But that makes it all the more worth it. Knowing we really worked for it."

"Yeah..." Jessi drank the last of her soda and set the cup down, pulling her futon next to Mallory's and lying down beside her. "And you kept your promise. You said when you got your own horse ranch, you'd make room for a dance studio for me."

"Of course." Mallory slid her hand down to take Jessi's. "No dream of mine is complete if it's not your dream, too."


End file.
